“As a result, the biblical text becomes indecipherable, as if it were written in an unknown alphabet and an esoteric tongue.” “Many, even among practising Christians, say openly that they are not able to read it, not because of illiteracy, but because they are unprepared for the biblical language, its modes of expression and its ancient cultural traditions,” he said. St Jerome’s life and work also highlight the need for true witnesses of Christ who can faithfully interpret Scripture which often seems as if it is “‘sealed,’ hermetically closed to interpretation.” “It can also serve as a model for the church’s various cultural institutions, called to be ‘places where knowledge becomes service, for no genuine and integral human development can occur without a body of knowledge that is the fruit of cooperation and leads to greater cooperation,'” he said, quoting a speech he gave in 2019 to the pontifical academies. “As an enterprise carried out within the community and at the service of the community, Jerome’s scholarly activity can serve as an example of synodality for us and for our own time,” the pope said.
His “monumental work” of translating the Old Testament from Hebrew, as well as his commentary on the Psalms and St Paul’s letters, are an example for Catholics today, he said. In his apostolic letter, the pope delved into the history of St Jerome’s life and his love of Scripture. Jerome’s death is “a summons to love what Jerome loved, to rediscover his writings and to let ourselves be touched by his robust spirituality, which can be described in essence as a restless and impassioned desire for a greater knowledge of the God who chose to reveal himself.”Ĭatholics today, he said, must heed “the advice that Jerome unceasingly gave to his contemporaries: ‘Read the divine Scriptures constantly never let the sacred volume fall from your hand.'” The letter itself said that marking the 16th centenary of St. “May the example of this great doctor and father of the church, who placed the Bible at the centre of his life, awaken in us a renewed love for the Sacred Scripture and the desire to live in a personal dialogue with the word of God,” he said.
“The different ways by which the word of God is proclaimed, understood and experienced in each new translation enrich Scripture itself since, according to the well-known expression of Gregory the Great, Scripture grows with the reader, taking on new accents and new resonance throughout the centuries,” he wrote in the letter released by the Vatican September 30.Įarlier in the day, before concluding his weekly general audience, the pope told pilgrims he had signed the document to coincide with the 16th centenary of St Jerome’s death. The Insanity of Possessing Nuclear Weapons
0 kommentar(er)
